Hearing results in tympanoplasty

Recent reports from Scandinavian authors have put forth the concept that hearing improvement following tympanoplasty is seldom satisfactory and difficult to obtain. This view is contradictory to the experience of most American authors. A study, therefore, was undertaken to evaluate the hearing results obtained by this author through the use of homograft material in middle ear and mastoid reconstruction. These hearing results are categorized according to time periods, types of reconstruction, and materials used. The hearing statistics are all taken from audiograms obtained one year or more postoperatively. These correspond with the type of reconstruction employed such as an intact ossicular chain, absence of the malleus, absence of the superstructure of the stapes, or both. Other categories include tympanoplasty with mastoidectomy or reconstruction of the posterior canal wall with homograft knee cartilage. The surgical techniques are not discussed in this article because they have been detailed in previous publications.